NEWS / COMMENTARIES

Phone Card Fair

The Phone Card Fair to be held in Southern Florida this September is certainly getting a lot of attention. I've decided that it looks like too much fun to pass up, so I will be in attendance, and am contemplating setting up a table there. If you are a collector, and can be in Southern Florida that weekend, this is an event you certainly do now want to miss.

The web site for further information is located at:

Here is the latest press release I have received from the promoters:

PhoneCard Collectors EXPO2000 is the first regional North American fair just for phonecard collectors and the organizers have been working relentlessly to bring

you the best of the hobby. It will be the first time, where collectors and dealers will be able to meet hundreds of their fellow enthusiasts in a relaxed atmosphere. Old friendships will be rekindled and new friendships will be started at this fair. Phonecard collectors and dealers will sell, trade and buy as well as chat for hours about cards. Enjoy a dinner trade session with friends and share your favorite phonecards. We feel that the show will be a

huge success, with hundreds of phonecard-lovers attending the fair.

The news of this show has triggered an overwhelming positive response from the North America as well as from other continents. We are expecting this fair to be the first in a series of events for North Amercian phonecard collectors. We hope to see a Florida and NY phonecard collectors club formed at the show.

The show is in part hosted by (Italy) and the ITA. The show is sponsored by phonecardcollector.com, Moneycard.com and Acme Telecards. Attendees and exhibitors include: Randy Moser, Howard Segemark, Roberta Strom (CDG), Steve Schwartz, Bruce

Harmon, Lenny Rapp, Lori Porecca, Scott Shapiro, Al Chairaville, Dave Degelman; Bill Rankin (St. Marten), Dan Deslauiers(Can), Dave Evans (Can), Lou Kurowski(Can), Martina Vialva (Trinidad), Kestas Snipas (Lithuania), Ralf Kricke (Ger), Art Moon (Jap) and many-many more of your favorite collectors and dealers!

"2 Fairs in 1 !

You have the unique opportunity to attend two seperate phonecard fairs held right after each other in the same city! Besides the Collector Fair, Naples hosts the ITA Power

of Prepaid conference from September 11-15. The ITA exhibition is for distributors and telecommunications caompanies. Over 50 companies will exhibit at that show. To learn more about the ITA fair go to:

Schedule: Saturday, September 9th

- 8-10 am exhibitor setup

- 10am-5:30pm show.

- Early-afternoon silent auction

- Saturday exhibition: Hacks, misprints,

testcards

- 5:30-7:30 exhibitors take down

(Optional)

-Dinner

Sunday, September 10th

- 8-10am exhibitor setup

- 10am-5pm show

- 1-2pm raffle

- Sunday exhibition:

- From 5pm Exhibitor take down

Lodging:

We have made special arrangements with the Naples Comfort Inn which is just a block away from the Depot. Single and double occupancy rooms are available for under $50 per room per night (incl tax) . A third person is an extra $6.5 (incl tax) per night per room.

A continental breakfast is included in this amazing price! These prices are only avaialable for Sep 8-10 and registrations must be sent by August 8th. To get the special rate mention that you are here for the Phonecard Collectors EXPO 2000. To reserve your

room: P#: 941-649-5800 or 1-800-382-7941 Fax: 941-649-0523 Address: 1221 Fifth Ave South Naples Fl 34102

The Venue Naples

Naples is located in Southwest coast of Florida. It is a popular tourist destination for golfers and nature lovers. The famous "Alligator-alley" starts in Naples and the Everglades National Park is nearby.

The Depot

The Depot is situated in downtown Naples on 5th Ave. The Depot is the local civic

center with over 4,000 sq feet of exhibition space, made up of three large rooms.

The Naples Depot 1051 Fith ave., South Naples, Florida 34102-6413

The Venue

The expo is held in the Depot, the local civic center, which is situated in downtown Naples on 5th Ave. The Depot is surrounded by hotels and motels, which offer very good off-season rates for September from $60/night for a single. Doubling or tripling is possible.

The nearest international airports are Miami (90min), Orlando(3h) and Tampa Bay(2h). The nearest national airport is Fort Myers (30 min.).

Current State of the hobby: Responses

I gave a brief perspective on the hobby in the US in issue 193 of POL. This received several responses, which I will now publish. I'm keeping them anonymous, and most basically share the same sentiments I wrote about.

RESPONSE 1

Some brief feedback from me regarding my own view on the hobby and my involvement in it: I definitely have adopted a "wait-and-see" attitude. I have a LOT of phonecards and VISA cash cards, including a number of quite rare and valuable (on paper!) ones. However, I have made VERY few purchases over the past couple of years as I've observed the lowering value of cards and general lack of a growing collector base. I still haven't "given up", but am at this point reserved about spending much $ in this area of collecting.

I suspect that "one day" VISA CASH type cards, especially the earlier issues, may prove to be quite valuable and desirable by collectors. However, at this point, the timing of this process seems to be far in the future.

RESPONSE 2

I collect U.S. coca-cola cards, mainly, and I can tell you that the market is still strong. I have purchased many cards (to complete sets) on eBay auctions; some have gone over book (MCC) price, most under book price. This is defiantly a price increase over my past purchases; I use to be able to get cards for half the book price.

I have put out requests on the email lists several times to buy the cards (at book price) I need to complete some sets. I get zero response in regards to those requests....apparently no one wants to part with their coke cards or have any extra cards, that I need, to sell at this time.

Any given day there are, almost, 100 coca-cola phone cards up for auction on eBay. It seems that the collectors and dealers feel it is worth the shot, to get higher than book price, for the cards [I need] on eBay. But in most cases that doesn't happen....like I said before, it appears that, most go for about 3/4 of book or below. But bidding does get hot for those hard to find cards such as the die-cuts and low mintage cards.

RESPONSE 3

Wanted to reply with my thoughts on the industry. I now just sit on my collection, and have no active role. What happened to the industry really took the wind from my sail concerning phone cards, and now my interest in phone cards has gone much the same way. I will sit on my collection for the time being and contemplate it's fate.

RESPONSE 4

I am still collecting and trading U.S. cards, but not as actively as I was a year ago.

RESPONSE 5

My phone card collecting has dwindled down substantially and I'm back to primarily my Baseball collecting. I still seek out Pepsi and Baseball phone cards but really have not bought much in the past year. I've got a bunch of Dannon Natural Spring Water cards I'd like to trade. Its all pure water for me now instead of the sugar water from my Pepsi days which is when I got entrenched in phone cards.

Until Next Time,

Alan

Distribution

Phonecards On-Line© is published by Alan Cohen. It is a newsletter devoted to phonecards - Current news, viewpoints, and reviews of new issues.

This newsletter is distributed free of charge, and available two ways.

1) On-Line on the World Wide Web. The address is: http://www.cardmall.com/pol - All back issues are archived at the web site.

2) Direct e-mail. Send a message to: phoneline@cardmall.com

If you wish to unsubscribe from POL, you need to send a message to the

following address: pol-request@coin-auctions.com

In the Body of the Message: address, just type UNSUBSCRIBE